Oliver Peebles Jenkins (born

Bantam, Ohio Bantam is an unincorporated community in Clermont County, Ohio, United States. It is the location of Bethel Methodist Church, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The community is located in northwest Tate Township alon ...

November 3, 1850; died

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto (; Spanish language, Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree kno ...

January 9, 1935) was an American

physiologist Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical a ...

and

histologist Histology, also known as microscopic anatomy or microanatomy, is the branch of biology which studies the microscopic anatomy of biological tissues. Histology is the microscopic counterpart to gross anatomy, which looks at larger structures vis ...

, mainly associated with

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

Career

Jenkins graduated from Moores Hill College (now the University of Evansville) in 1869 and served as a teacher, high school principal and superintendent in the public school systems of

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

and

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, returning to Moores Hill College in 1876 to take up a post as a professor. In 1883 he was appointed to the faculty of the Indiana State Normal School (now

Indiana State University Indiana State University (ISU) is a public university in Terre Haute, Indiana. It was founded in 1865 and offers over 100 undergraduate majors and more than 75 graduate and professional programs. Indiana State is classified among "D/PU: Doctor ...

) at

Terre Haute Terre Haute ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Vigo County, Indiana, United States, about 5 miles east of the state's western border with Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 60,785 and its metropolitan area had a ...

and he became Professor of Biology at

DePauw University DePauw University is a private liberal arts university in Greencastle, Indiana. It has an enrollment of 1,972 students. The school has a Methodist heritage and was originally known as Indiana Asbury University. DePauw is a member of both the G ...

in 1886 where he remained until 1891. In that year he was appointed a founding faculty member at

and he remained there until he retired in 1916 when he was Professor Emeritus of Physiology. He collected specimens on expeditions with

David Starr Jordan David Starr Jordan (January 19, 1851 – September 19, 1931) was the founding president of Stanford University, serving from 1891 to 1913. He was an ichthyologist during his research career. Prior to serving as president of Stanford Univer ...

and

Barton Warren Evermann Barton Warren Evermann (October 24, 1853 – September 27, 1932) was an American ichthyologist. Early life and education Evermann was born in Monroe County, Iowa in 1853. His family moved to Indiana while he was still a child and it was ...

and he wrote works on the fishes of the United States of America and of Hawaii, as well as on invertebrate nervous systems. Jenkins also wrote a series of text books on physiology for

. He was a founder member of the

Indiana Academy of Science Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th st ...

and its first treasurer. Among the many scientific societies he was a member of were the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

, the

American Physiological Society The American Physiological Society is a non-profit professional society for physiologists. It has nearly 10,000 members, most of whom hold doctoral degrees in medicine, physiology or other health professions. Its mission is to support research and ...

and the

Cooper Ornithological Society The Cooper Ornithological Society (COS), formerly the Cooper Ornithological Club, was an American ornithological society. It was founded in 1893 in California and operated until 2016. Its name commemorated James Graham Cooper, an early California b ...

Personal life

Jenkins was survived by his widow, Elizabeth, and their two sons.

As a naturalist

Jenkins wrote a paper called ''Report on collections of fishes made in the Hawaiian Islands, with descriptions of new species'' for the Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission in 1903. The

combtooth blenny Combtooth blennies are blenniiformids; percomorph marine fish of the family Blenniidae, part of the order Blenniiformes. They are the largest family of blennies with around 401 known species in 58 genera. Combtooth blennies are found in tropic ...

'' Hypsoblennius jenkinsi'' was named in honour Jenkins by David Starr Jordan and Barton Warren Evermann.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jenkins, Oliver Peebles 1850 births 1935 deaths American physiologists Histologists University of Evansville alumni University of Evansville faculty Indiana State University faculty DePauw University faculty Stanford University faculty